Katrina Thinesen, 13, and her dad, Perry Thinesen, 49, both of Cokato, Minn., at Target Field on Saturday, June 7, 2014, just after Perry was named the 2014 Minnesota Father of the Year by the National Center for Fathering. Perry was picked for the award after his daughter entered an essay contest about “What My Father Means to Me.” For this honor, the dad got to throw out the first pitch and he received the Peter J. Spokes Championship Fathering Award, a silver platter, as a reminder of the importance of serving others. Photo by Adam Bettcher for The National Center for Fathering.

A crowd of thousands cheered for Perry Thinesen at Target Field last weekend as he waited to throw out the first pitch.

Thinesen, 49, of Cokato, Minn., wasn’t on the field to help the Minnesota Twins defeat the Houston Astros. He had just been named the 2014 Minnesota Father of the Year by the National Center for Fathering.

A very tough critic had nominated him for this honor: his 13-year-old daughter.

“My dad,” wrote Katrina Thinesen in her prize-winning essay, “is forever a perfect example of love to me.”

As the newly crowned Father of the Year, Thinesen got to throw out the first pitch at the Twins’ game.

Like most typical Minnesota dads, he was a bit embarrassed by all the fuss.

YOUNG ESSAY WRITERS

The National Center for Fathering, based just outside of Kansas City, Kan., started its Father of the Year celebration and the “What My Father Means to Me” essay contest in 1992 as a way to raise awareness about the importance of fathering.

In the 22 years since, the contest has given a voice to more than 1 million school-age children and baseball tickets to many happy dads (the center now offers its contest in areas where it has Major League Baseball connections, including the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins).

“It’s so real and so genuine,” said Glo Westerdahl, the Twins’ community relations coordinator, referring to the essay contest.

Ben Kirkham, a language arts teacher at White Bear Lake Area High School-North Campus, agrees. He has made the contest a tradition for his students.

“The first year, I used it as practice for the five-paragraph essay for the MCA test,” Kirkham said.

It’s become something more profound.

“Some kids write about all the things their dads do, like pushing them in school and in sports, because they think that’s what I want,” Kirkham said. “It’s nice to know there are so many great dads out there. But the honest ones impress me the most — like the kid who wrote about how his dad forgives him when he screws up.”

Sometimes, Kirkham’s students tell him they don’t have a dad in their life to write about, but that’s no reason to skip the assignment.

“Now, I don’t do it for grades and I don’t do it for practice anymore,” Kirkham said. “Now, I do this for the dads.”

SERVING OTHERS

Over the years, the idea of a dad’s role has changed.

“It used to be more about protecting and providing, not necessarily about saying, ‘I love you,’Ã¢ ” said Brock Griffin, the center’s director of writing and publications. “Now, dads are more emotionally engaged.”

Each year, the center works with schools to encourage contest entries. This year, volunteers with General Mills read thousands of Minnesota essays over the winter, narrowing them down to 60 finalists.

The men who were the subject of those 60 essays then were asked to complete a questionnaire about how they view their roles, be it father or father figure.

Based on those answers, 11 finalists were selected for telephone interviews.

On June 7, the finalists gathered at Illusion Theater in downtown Minneapolis for a recognition program before heading to the Twins’ game.

On the stage, one banner encouraged men to serve as school volunteers through a program called Watch D.O.G.S.; another offered more immediate fathering advice:

Be your kid’s hero:

— Love

— Coach

— Model

— Be actively engaged

Barb Spokes, the widow of Peter Spokes, the center’s president and chief operating officer until his death in 2010, told the crowd how he lived these ideals at home.

“He taught our kids to ask us, ‘What can I do to help?’Ã¢ ” Spokes said.

This is why, Spokes said, the Father of the Year receives the Peter J. Spokes Championship Fathering Award in the form of a silver platter.

“The tray is a reminder to serve others,” Spokes said.

Many children need that service.

“There are about 24 million children who will lay their heads on their pillows tonight with no father in the house,” said Jeff Jenkins, the center’s current chief operating officer.

GRANDPA GETS NOD

As the first-place winners took the stage to read their essays aloud, it was clear that this was a reality for some kids.

Elena Miller Ross, the third-grade winner from Lake Region Christian School in Baxter, and her younger sister, Alessa Miller Ross, both wrote about their grandpa.

“I am just really thankful for him,” Elena said as her grandpa stood behind her on stage. “He’s the reason I have food, a house and the reason I have faith in Christ.”

For Alex Nunez, the fifth-grade winner from Red Pine Elementary School in Eagan, a father’s presence is not something to take for granted. He wrote an ode to his stepdad, Matt Norris.

“Before my mom met my dad, I felt like I didn’t have that many people I could trust because it was just me and my mom for the most part,” Nunez said. “My dad has made me feel more secure and like I have a normal family now. It feels great to have a family.”

Of course, traditional dads were feted as well.

“My daddy means everything to me,” read Lexi DeGree, the first-grade winner from St. John the Baptist School in Vermillion, as her father stood next to her. “He jumps on the trampoline with me. He goes roller skating with my school and holds my hand and all my friends’ hands all at the same time. My daddy lets me paint his toenails different colors and doesn’t get mad when I don’t paint them well. He drives the SWAT truck to my school so all the kids can look inside it. He also makes the best omelets ever!”

When Lexi finished speaking, her dad helped her down the steep, darkened stage stairs by sweeping her up in his arms and carrying her.

HAPPY CHAOS

Like many modern dads, Thinesen’s daily life is a juggle of kids, work, sports, activities and chauffeuring. He and his wife, Joyce Thinesen, have five children, ranging in age from 8 to 19.

” ‘Happy chaos’ is what I call it,” Joyce Thinesen said.

“What stuck out about him is that he is a very purposeful father,” Griffin said on Thinesen’s Father of the Year award. “He really made a conscious effort to figure out how to be a dad and to live it.”

As the activities and community education director for the Dassel-Cokato school district, Thinesen’s job also requires a big commitment.

So, Thinesen prioritizes: dinner at home every night (even if he must return to work afterward, which he often does), church together on Sundays and no “me time.”

“Early on, when we decided to have a larger family, I resolved that I would wholly commit myself to the concept,” Thinesen said. “Because my job is so demanding, I decided that if I wasn’t at my job, that I would be at home. This has meant saying no to a lot of other things — friendships, playing sports. But I love to be with my family. I think they know that.”

In fact, he might be seeing his family more than ever this year.

“Our college-age daughter saw a free couch on the side of the road,” Joyce Thinesen said. “She wanted it for the house she’ll be renting next fall, but Perry didn’t really want to stop and get it. She said, ‘Well, that would be the Father-of-the-Year thing to do.’ So he turned the truck around and went back and got it. He might be exhausted by the end of this year!”

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